There was a church on this site, in Bitton, before England existed. Long before the Norman Conquest, before even Alfred the Great. No one knows why such a large church was built, so long ago, in such a small village? But while the church you see today has changed over the years, the lower parts of its main walls have stood for over a thousand years.
We have been working hard to assure not only that St Mary’s history is better known, but that it continues to have a future – not as a museum, but as a working building at the heart of the community it has served for so long. To continue as a place of worship, but to become a place where the whole community can come together, to enjoy events to meet, to even to work. So far we have cleaned the walls, made our seating more flexible and started to make some of the difficult decisions about what comes next. The church needs a new floor, it needs to be made accessible by people with disabilities and it needs a modern heating and lighting systems. This investment in St Mary’s future will be expensive, but is needed.
Small individual donations are always welcome, but large sums of money will only come from large donors and trusts who have many requests for their funds. Its a competitive business and the process of applying for funds is hard, time-consuming and often results in nothing. What can so often make a difference and impress donors is to show that there is strong support for what is proposed.